Goumbook and Capital Club recently cohosted a panel discussion in Dubai’s International Financial Centre(DIFC), gathering industry experts to discuss “Our Land, Our Future – Regenerative Agriculture and Climate Investments”. The session provided valuable insights to the critical intersection of regenerative agriculture and climate-focused investments, showcasing the potential for innovation and collaboration to address pressing environmental challenges.
The outcomes of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification COP16 (UNCCD) which took place in Riyadh, KSA, in 2024, underscored the critical need to address land degradation, food & water scarcity, and climate challenges in the MENAT region. This joint event highlighted these key insights from COP16 and synergies with the MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Programme, fostering dialogue on how research, innovation, and finance can drive impactful change.
This engaging session was moderated by Goumbook’s Founder and Managing Director, Tatiana Antonelli Abella, which brought together a distinguished panel of subject matter experts, including H.E. Sheikh Dr. Majid Al Qassimi (SOMA MATER), Yazen Al Kodmani (Emirates Bio Farm), and Samantha Kayruz (Goumbook/ MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Initiative). The event also actively engaged attendees, providing them with the opportunity to contribute their thoughts and enrich the dialogue from both a scientific and investment perspective. This collaborative exchange fostered a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities within regenerative agriculture and climate investments.
From Dialogue to Action
Regenerative agriculture stands at the intersection of the three Rio Conventions—UNFCCC, UNCCD, and CBD—offering a systemic approach to mitigating climate change, reversing land degradation, and restoring biodiversity. By prioritising soil health, water retention, and ecosystem regeneration, it directly supports the goals of the UNCCD in combating desertification while enhancing carbon sequestration, aligning with UNFCCC climate commitments. At the same time, regenerative practices restore natural habitats, foster biodiversity, and strengthen ecosystem resilience, reinforcing the CBD’s objectives. Yet, despite its clear alignment with these global frameworks, regenerative agriculture remains underutilised in policy and investment landscapes.
To unlock its full potential, decision-makers must integrate it into national climate, land, food and biodiversity strategies, ensuring that financial mechanisms, incentives, and market structures support its adoption at scale. Bridging the gap between agricultural transformation and the Rio Conventions is not just an environmental imperative—it is an economic and social opportunity to build resilience in the face of global crises.
The discussion underscored a powerful message: we have moved beyond the research phase—it is time for implementation. Extensive efforts have gone into assessing solutions, advancing research and innovation, and defining the role of regenerative agriculture in addressing climate, land degradation, and food security challenges.
The next step is to mobilise stakeholders, align financial mechanisms, and create enabling policies that drive large-scale adoption. Scaling regenerative agriculture requires breaking down silos between research, investment, and on-the-ground action—ensuring that knowledge is translated into tangible impact. This means unlocking capital not only for farmers but also for research institutions, scientific advancements, and nature-based solution innovators who are developing the tools and technologies needed to accelerate this transition.
Embedding regenerative principles into supply chains, fostering multi-stakeholder collaboration, and ensuring policy frameworks support long-term resilience over short-term gains are critical.
The challenge is no longer about proving the viability of regenerative agriculture—it is about accelerating its adoption by strategically financing innovation, integrating policies, and creating market incentives that reward regeneration and innovation at scale.
Panelists emphasised that regenerative agriculture is not merely an environmental strategy—it is an economic imperative for ensuring food security at national and regional levels. In the MENAT region, where water scarcity, land degradation, and desertification pose escalating threats, investing in soil health and nature-based solutions is fundamental to building climate- resilient food systems. By treating soil as an asset and regeneration as a long-term investment, we can unlock economic value, enhance productivity, and future-proof agriculture against climate risks. This shift requires not only adoption at the farm level but also systemic changes in policy, finance, and market structures to scale impact effectively.
Building a Supportive Ecosystem
Participants highlighted several critical priorities:
- Supporting small and medium-sized farmers who represent 60%-80% of the region’s agricultural producers
- Creating accessible financing mechanisms tailored to regenerative agriculture’s unique investment profile
- Developing regionally relevant solutions rather than importing models from other geographic contexts
- Breaking down silos to create cohesive ecosystems connecting researchers, farmers, policymakers, and investors
MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Initiative
The discussion also highlighted how Goumbook’s MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Initiative, launched in December 2023 in partnership with HSBC and Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB), with support from EIT Food and the UN Climate Champions team, is driving stakeholder engagement and fostering a supportive ecosystem to scale science-backed and research-driven solutions. By bridging innovation, finance, and policy, the initiative is accelerating the transition toward regenerative practices across the region.
To listen to this insightful convening session, the recording is made available through this LINK
The MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme, which has received over 660 registrations of interest across two cohorts, has been able to identify promising accessible and research-based innovation with leading examples such as nano encapsulation and priming of wheat & cereals, cutting-edge biofertilizers, agrivoltaics, agrobots and RNA solutions for red palm weevil, all tailored to addressing our region’s unique agricultural challenges.
To learn more about the MENA Regenerative Agriculture Initiative and Venture Programme click HERE